Department for Transport

High Speed 2 Railway Line

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the changesmade to the latest edition of the HS2 Development Agreement, dated November 2018.

baroness sugg: This is a routine update of the DA building on the version published in 2017. The intention is to produce a more simplified version of the DA with an emphasis on plain English. The DA continues to provide clarity on roles and responsibilities between HS2 Ltd and DfT to reflect the growing maturity of the programme and as the project moves from development to delivery. This revised DA provides clarifications and amendments to, for example, the Land and Property section where the concepts of Core Land, Additional Land, Management Land and Operation & Maintenance Land are set out. It amends the role for HS2 Ltd associated with the shadow operator functions transferring to the West Coast Partnership and changes the Performance Remedies Regime. Other areas of change include:Stations CommercialisationSponsor’s RequirementsWider Programme BenefitsOver Site developmentManagement InformationUndertakings and AssurancesInstruction, Change and Affirmation Process

High Speed 2 Railway Line

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have been held between the Department for Transport and Transport for London on funding for the section of HS2 between Old Oak Common and Euston.

baroness sugg: The section of the HS2 line between Euston and Old Oak Common stations is a DfT Sponsor’s Requirement and as such is funded from the HS2 Phase One funding envelope. Where third parties such as local authorities and transport bodies have requests for additional requirements or scope beyond the DfT Sponsor’s Requirements, HS2 Ltd is delegated to consider incorporation of these requests, subject to an appropriate funding agreement with the relevant third parties.

Driving: Licensing

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether UK motorists currently residing in EU countries willhave to re-take their UK driving test in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

baroness sugg: While the UK is a member of the EU, UK driving licences are directly exchangeable for licences issued by EU and EEA member states when the holder becomes resident. In the event of an EU exit under no deal, these arrangements will end. In this scenario, how UK licence holders who are resident in an EU country are treated after exit day will depend on the domestic laws of the country they live in. Where exchange is no longer available, UK licence holders may need to re-take their driving test to obtain a licence. For certainty, UK licence holders who are resident in the EU should therefore exercise their current right to licence exchange before exit day. The UK is seeking to secure rights in relation to both recognition and exchange of UK driving licences with all EU and EEA member states.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Electricity Generation

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much they have paid, broken down by power source, to generators of electricity as compensation for their output not being required by National Gridin each of the past ten years.

lord henley: The Government does not make such payments. National Grid is responsible for procuring the balancing services needed to help ensure the secure operation of the electricity system, which it does through competitive market arrangements.National Grid has advised that it publishes details of balancing services procured, including a break down by power source of payments made to constrain generation output, in its Monthly Balancing Services Summary. This is available on the National Grid's website.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Asylum: Greece

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is theirresponse to thereport by Oxfam Vulnerable and Abandoned, published on 9 January, about the problems associated with the Greek reception system for asylum seekers and that system's protectionof vulnerable people.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are aware of the report. In our contacts at official and Ministerial level, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has consistently raised concerns with the Greek government about the humanitarian situation faced by some migrants, and we will continue to do so. The UK remains fully committed to working with Greece to manage migration in the Eastern Mediterranean through the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement. Since March 2018, the UK has provided interpreters to work with the Greek Reception and Identification Service, supporting migrants arriving on the hotspot islands, including through facilitating access to medical and psycho-social care. As the Minister for Immigration announced on 20 December, we have also made changes to the 'Dubs amendment' scheme to allow more of the most vulnerable unaccompanied children to qualify for relocation to the UK.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Social Rented Housing: Rents

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan that the one per cent reduction in rents for social landlord properties each year will continue after 2020.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government announced plans in October 2017 to set a long term rent deal for councils and housing associations. The proposal is for increases to social housing rents to be limited to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 1 per cent for 5 years from 2020.The Government consulted on these proposals in the Autumn. Details of the consultation are available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/rents-for-social-housing-from-2020-to-2021. We are currently analysing the feedback and we aim to publish our response to the consultation by the Spring.



Consultation document
(PDF Document, 400.95 KB)

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft

lord robathan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the Air Support to Defence Operational Training programme.

earl howe: Tender submissions for the contracted service provision element of the Air Support to Defence Operational Training programme have been received and are currently being assessed.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

baroness thomas of winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals have had to wait (1) three to six months, (2) six to nine months, (3) nine to 12 months, and (4) over 12 months for their Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals to be heard in each year since PIP was introduced.

baroness buscombe: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Home Office

Radicalism

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Senior Officials Group on Extremism exists; if so, what are its terms of reference; and to whom it reports.

baroness williams of trafford: The Senior Officials Group on Extremism is a historical governance arrangement which no longer exists.Ministerial oversight of the Government’s work on counter-extremism and integration exists through the Inter-Ministerial Group on Safe and Integrated Communities. This ministerial group is supported by officials.

Asylum: Housing

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the debate on the Kindertransport Commemoration on 26 November 2018 (HL Deb, col 529), what estimate they have made of the cost to local authorities of supporting asylum seekers and refugees housed by providers such as G4S and Jomast.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office is consulting with Local Authorities on this and other subjects, but no estimate of cost has yet been made.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit: Statutory Instruments

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will continue to present to the House of Lords statutory instruments relating to the possibility of a no-deal withdrawal from the EU on 29 March if the House of Commons votes to avoid a no-deal exit.

lord callanan: As a responsible Government we will continue to plan for all scenarios, this includes no deal.

Overseas Trade: Germany

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there may be a decline in trade between the UKand Germany in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

lord callanan: In November, the Government published analysis of how exiting the EU may affect the UK economy in the long run, including in a no deal scenario. This covers an assessment of changes in UK-EU trading patterns rather than trade with specific countries. The analysis shows that new trade barriers between the UK and EU in the event of a no deal could lower UK-EU trade volumes by approximately 30 percentage points in the long run compared to the modelled White Paper scenario.This Government does not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario. We want to deliver an orderly Brexit, with a deal, that protects our union, gives us control of our borders, laws and money, and means that we have an independent trade policy. We are committed to achieving an ambitious and unprecedented trading partnership with the EU.

Brexit

lord pearson of rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks byLord Pearson of Rannoch in the debate on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on 14 January (HL Deb, col 96), whether it remains their position that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" in the Brexit negotiations.

lord callanan: Both the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration have now been agreed between the EU and the UK and endorsed by leaders of the 27 Member States. The UK and the EU have been clear that the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration form a package, and that neither document can be considered final until both have been agreed.The Political Declaration provides detailed instructions to negotiators that will seek to deliver a legal agreement by the end of 2020. Once the final deal has been approved by the House of Commons, the UK and the EU will then formally sign the Withdrawal Agreement which, after ratification on both sides, will enter into force as a legally binding international treaty.

Brexit: Statutory Instruments

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance has been given to Government departments on conducting impact assessments on statutory instruments relating to the possibility of a no-deal withdrawal from the EU on 29 March.

lord callanan: Departments have been provided with guidance that the impact of EU Exit Statutory Instruments (SIs) should be assessed in line with standard practice by following the existing Better Regulation Framework, in accordance with HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance. This includes SIs that are being introduced to fix deficiencies to allow current systems or regulatory provisions to operate following the EU (Withdrawal) Act or following a no deal scenario.All EU Exit SIs are published on gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk and where appropriate, impact assessments are published alongside them and detailed in the explanatory memoranda.

Brexit: Statutory Instruments

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Government departments are allowed to make use of non-disclosure agreements when consulting outside interests on the preparation of statutory instruments relating to the possibility of a no-deal withdrawal from the EU on 29 March.

lord callanan: Government departments may make use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when structuring their engagements on preparations for leaving the EU, which is a crucial component of planning. It is for departments to determine the manner in which engagement with stakeholders takes place and this can include discussions about statutory instruments (SIs).Given the sensitive nature of some discussions, there may be limited circumstances in which departments have used NDAs to enable more stakeholder engagement than would otherwise be the case.All the SIs help provide certainty for businesses and the public by ensuring a functioning statute book when the UK leaves the EU. The majority are needed in either a deal or no deal scenario, as they will be deferred to the end of an implementation period if no longer needed on 29 March.

Treasury

Electronic Publishing: VAT

lord bird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 26 November (HL11364), whether they have begun assessing the equalities impact of applying a zero VAT rate to e-publications; and whether any such assessments will include the impact on literacy rates in relation to children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

lord bates: The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT on e-publications.Any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic, and fiscal considerations.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Social Enterprises: Investment

lord mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of social investment funds vehicles offering loans at higher interest rates than those offered by the commercial market.

lord mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of social investment funds vehicles encouraging small charities and social enterprises to take out high interest loans.

lord ashton of hyde: The government collects no systematic evidence of the different rates of interest offered by social and commercial lenders. Interest rates cannot be compared in isolation. Interest rates applied by all investors, including independent social investment funds, are calculated based on credit assessments and reflect the risk presented by the individual organisations seeking investment and the costs of providing finance. We have received no complaints that recipients of social investment are being obligated to accept any investment offer they feel is not beneficial to them. Social investors in the financial and philanthropic sectors are regulated by the respective regulatory bodies to ensure compliance to standards.

Data Protection: EU Law

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the requirements for (1) elected councillors, (2) police and crime commissioners, and (3) elected mayors to register under the General Data Protection Regulations.

lord ashton of hyde: Under the Data Protection Act 2018, those defined as data controllers, which may include elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors, are no longer required to notify and register with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Data controllers are however required to pay an annual charge to the ICO and provide the information necessary to determine that charge unless a relevant exemption applies. The Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, which came into force on the 25th May 2018, introduced a new data protection charge, replacing the previous notification fee, which was associated with the previous legal requirement on data controllers to register with the ICO. Currently, data controllers do not have to pay the annual data protection charge if they process personal data without an automated system, such as a computer, or if they only process personal data for one (or more) of the following purposes: staff administration; advertising, marketing and public relations; accounts and records; not-for-profit purposes; personal, family or household affairs; maintaining a public register; and judicial functions. Charities and small occupational pension schemes are also automatically subject to the lowest tier of charge. On 17th December 2018 an amendment to the Regulations was laid in Parliament to introduce a new exemption for the payment of the annual data protection charge for (i) members of the House of Lords; and (ii) elected representatives, as defined in paragraph 23(3) of Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018 (“the DPA 2018”) in connection with the discharge of their respective functions; and (iii) relevant processing undertaken by candidates (prospective and validly nominated) seeking to become elected representatives. This new exemption would apply specifically to elected councillors, police and crime commissioners and elected mayors. Subject to Parliamentary processes (and a vote in each House), the exemption will come into force from 1 April 2019.